PlayStation has made quite a number of questionable decisions in recent years, and that still applies even if you take the impending shift to an all-digital world out of the equation.
For quite some time now, PlayStation has prioritised live service- something precisely no one requested.
Yes, live service games can be incredibly popular. Everyone wants what Epic Games has with Fortnite, but no one wants live service at the expense of the butchering of their favourite IPs.
The cancelled The Last of Us Online was greenlit over The Last of Us Part III.Horizon Hunters Gathering was greenlit over Horizon 3, and similarly looks on the verge of being rebooted or culled entirely.
Bend Studio wasted years on a live service project. Concord was a colossal waste of time and money. Bluepoint was closed after years spent on a cancelled God of War live-service game, as was PlayStation London Studio with its untitled live-service IP.
It’s disaster after disaster, and now Ratchet & Clank: Ranger Rumble joins that list, as the mobile spin-off of the beloved PlayStation IP is being shut down before it’s really even seen the light of day.
Ratchet & Clank is the latest beloved IP to suffer a blow due to live service ambitions
Ratchet & Clank: Ranger Rumble was set to bring back the franchise’s iconic and zany weapons in the form of a PvP multiplayer title on mobile.
Already, though, development has ceased with the game’s final update now available, and the app is to be removed from stores from November 21, and it hadn’t even fully rolled out in the first place.
Ratchet & Clank: Ranger Rumble had soft-launched in the UK, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It never reached the US.
“Players who already have the game will be able to continue playing until May 1, 2027, when the game’s servers will permanently shut down,” the development team said.
“On behalf of the dev team and everyone helping to make the game, thanks to our amazing community for all your support, especially to those who have spent time playing, sharing feedback, and helping shape Ranger Rumblethroughout its development!”
While Ratchet & Clank is an Insomniac Games IP, the first-party PlayStation studio didn’t lead development. Instead, it worked in partnership with Oh BiBi, but that doesn’t make this any less of a blow.
Insomniac Games is desperately in need of a win
Insomniac Games has had a tough time. It all began with a major leak following the launch of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. It completely revealed all of the studio’s plans, seemingly leading to the cancellation of Spider-Man 2DLC.
Leaked development footage led many to make up their minds about Marvel’s Wolverine long before it was released a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, Marvel’s Wolverine didn’t do enough to prove those premature detractors wrong.
The problem with Marvel’s Wolverine is that it’s too repetitive and completely lacks the dynamism we’d expect from Insomniac Games. The story, performances, and graphics are all commendable, but fighting through endless corridors of enemies with a limited arsenal of tricks quickly becomes a slog.
And now Ratchet & Clank is the latest IP to be dealt a blow, at a time when a lot of people are probably wishing that we got a Rift Apart sequel instead of Wolverine.
Instead of turning to live service, why can’t PlayStation support its most promising studios? Whether that looks like lending out IP to another first-party studio, or drafting in studios without a project as extra hands, I don’t know, but there has to be something better than what we’re seeing.
Fans are disgruntled. Developers probably aren’t exactly having a whale of a time either.
PlayStation’s 2028 shift to an all-digital future is going to continue to be something that fans and users cannot look past, but hopefully, at least, we can enter a new era where studios and beloved IPs aren’t butchered all in the pursuit of live service.
Featured Image Credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment
